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The Gospel of Judas is a Gnostic Gospel , the text of which was partially reconstructed in 2006 . It has a strong positive focus on Judas Iscariot , but does not claim to have been written by him. According to the Canonical Gospel s, Judas betrayed Jesus Christ to the Roman authorities by whom he was Crucified . The Gospel of Judas portrays this act positively, as one performed in obedience to the instructions of Jesus, rather than as a Betrayal . This positive portrayal follows from the Gnostic notion that the human form is confining, and that Judas was to put into motion events that would release the Spirit of Christ from its physical constraints. The Gospel of Judas does not claim that the other . It is possible for you to reach it, but you will grieve a great deal. For someone else will replace you, in order that the twelve (disciples) may again come to completion with their God ." The Gospel of Judas goes even further, showing Jesus in various instances criticizing the other disciples for their Ignorance . When they present a vision they had to him, he points out the vision's true meaning as follows: "Those you have seen receiving the offerings at the altar — that is who you are. That is the God you serve, and you are those twelve men you have seen. The cattle you have seen brought for sacrifice are the many people you lead astray before that altar. (. . .) will stand and make use of My name in this way, and generations of the pious will remain loyal to Him." BACKGROUND Though it is assumed that roughly fifty Gospels existed during the Early Church , Adolf Harnack, ''Chronologie d. altchr. Litt'', vol. I, pp. 589 et seq. (1897) there remains further information for only twenty of them, four of which are the Canonical Gospels of Matthew , Mark , Luke , and John . The Gospel of Judas is one of the sixteen other gospels about which some information has historically been preserved in early church writings. Of these twenty writings, however, the four Canonical Gospels were the only ones that the emerging early Christian orthodoxy considered to be divinely inspired. The manuscript called Codex Tchacos , the only known manuscript that includes the text of the Gospel, surfaced in the 1970s, after about sixteen centuries in the desert of Egypt as a leather-bound papyrus manuscript. The papyri on which the Gospel is written are fragmentary, with some sections missing. In some cases, there are only scattered words; in others, many lines. This is most likely due to the wear and tear associated with the elements and the passage of time. According to Rodolphe Kasser , the Codex originally contained 62 pages; but when it came to the market in 1999, only 26 pages remained because individual pages had been removed and put up for sale. From time to time, these missing pages appear and are identified. The manuscript was Radiocarbon Dated to between 220 and 340 by Timothy Jull, a carbon-dating expert at the University Of Arizona 's physics center. Due to Textual Analysis for linguistic quirks, such as arcane language features, and features that become lost in translation, most academics who have analysed the ''Gospel of Judas'' believe that it is probably a translation from an older Greek work dating to AD 130–170. In addition, the early Christian writer Irenaeus Of Lyons referred to the ''Gospel of Judas'', presumably the same text, as early as 180, and so presents a '' Terminus Ante Quem '' for its composition. It was also referred to by Origen in ''De Stromateis.'' For a comparison, the generally accepted dating for the canonical ''Gospel of John'' is only a few decades earlier in AD 95-110, and as well as the earlier estimates coming from a number of Christian scholars, several other academics have proposed later dates for the ''Gospel of John'' that overlap with those for the ''Gospel of Judas''. Many secular scholars consider that the ''Gospel of Judas'' is a useful witness to first century Christianity. CONTENT Ancient controversy Irenaeus mentions a ''Gospel of Judas'' in his anti-Gnostic work '' Adversus Haereses '', written in about 180. He writes there are some who: declare that Cain derived his being from the Power above, and acknowledge that Esau , Korah , the Sodomites , and all such persons, are related to themselves. . .They declare that Judas the traitor was thoroughly acquainted with these things, and that he alone, knowing the truth as no others did, accomplished the mystery of the betrayal; by him all things, both earthly and heavenly, were thus thrown into confusion. They produce a fictional history of this kind, which they style the This is in reference to the Cainites , a sect of Gnosticism that especially worshipped Cain as a hero. The Cainites, like a large number of Gnostic groups, were semi- Maltheists believing that the god of the Old Testament — Yahweh — was evil, and a quite different and much lesser being to the deity that had created the universe, and was responsible for sending Jesus. Such Gnostic groups worshipped as heroes all the Biblical figures which had sought to discover knowledge or challenge Yahweh's authority, while demonizing those who would have been seen as heroes in a more orthodox interpretation. The text rediscovered in 2006 is similar to what is loosely termed mythology describing both positive and negative Aeons . Gnostics were not averse to rewriting other people's scripture, as what was valuable to them was the deeply underlying teaching that was presented, and the effect of the Gospel on the mind of the listener/reader (cf. Koan s), rather than being particular to the precise details of the narrative that framed them. For Metaphysical reasons, certain of the Gnostics maintained that Judas acted as he did in order that mankind might be redeemed by the death of Jesus' mortal body. For this reason, they regarded Judas as worthy of gratitude and veneration. In this theory, it is suggested that Judas, who in common with the other disciples looked for a temporal kingdom of the Messiah ("the anointed one"), did not anticipate the death of Jesus, but wished to precipitate a political crisis and hasten the hour of triumph, thinking that the arrest of Jesus would provoke a rising of the people who would set him free and place him on the throne. In support of this, they point to the fact that, when Judas found that Jesus was condemned and given up to the Romans, he immediately repented of what he had done. These theories are at odds with those of mainstream church doctrine as derived from Canonical Scripture . This Cainite group has always been one that historically was treated delicately by the orthodox church. The Christian church has always held that Jesus underwent his passion and death freely, because of the sins of mankind and out of infinite love, in order that all could have the opportunity to reach salvation. Thus, Judas' betrayal of Jesus, even from an orthodox viewpoint, can be looked at as only a personal betrayal of Jesus and a violation of Judas' position as an apostle and not as a doctrinal violation. Indeed, the Gospel Of John , unlike the Synoptic Gospels , contains the enigmatic statement of Jesus to Judas, as the latter leaves the Passover meal to set in motion the betrayal process, "Do quickly what you have to do." (John 13:27) (trans. ''The New English Bible''). Some view this as a direct command to Judas to do what he did, while others cite the first portion of the same verse, in which it says that "Satan entered into him," leaving the possible interpretation of the passage to mean that Jesus was speaking instead to Satan. Some two centuries after Irenaeus' complaint, Epiphanius Of Salamis , bishop of Cyprus , criticized the Gospel of Judas for treating as commendable the person whom he saw as the betrayer of Jesus, and as one who "performed a good work for our salvation." (Haeres., xxxviii). Modern rediscovery The portion of the manuscript that could be translated by later scholars tells of Judas being the favorite Disciple of Jesus, possibly intended to be interpreted as the Beloved Disciple . Like much Gnostic writing, which was written only for those who had attained a certain level of initiation, the ''Gospel of Judas'' claimed to be a secret account, specifically "the secret account of the revelation that Jesus spoke in conversation with Judas Iscariot." While over the ages many philosophers have contemplated the idea that Judas was required to have carried out his actions in order for Jesus to have died on the cross and hence fulfil theological obligations, the position was frequently condemned as heresy, and was not supported by any canonical account. However, the ''Gospel of Judas'' not only asserts that the actions of Judas were necessary, but that Judas was acting on the orders of Jesus himself. The ''Gospel of Judas'' states that Jesus told Judas "You shall be cursed for generations." It then adds to this conversation that Jesus had told Judas "you will come to rule over them," and that "You will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me." "Text might be hidden 'Gospel of Judas'" , CNN , April 6, 2006 Unlike the four canonical gospels, which employ narrative accounts of the last year of life of Jesus (three years in the case of John) and of his birth (only in the case of Luke and Matthew), the Judas gospel takes the less structured form of a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus and brief dialogues between Jesus and Judas without being embedded in any narrative or worked into any overt Philosophical or Rhetorical context. Though somewhat odd in light of the New Testament, such dialogue gospels were popular during the early decades of Christianity, and the New Testament Apocrypha contains several examples of the form, the most notable being the Gospel Of Mary Magdalene . Like the Judas portrayed in the canonical gospels, the Judas of the Judas gospel converses with the scribes looking to arrest Jesus and receives money from them after handing Jesus over to them. But unlike the Judas in the canonical gospels, who is portrayed as a villain, and excoriated by Jesus, "Alas for that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born," (Mark 14:21; Matthew 26:24) (trans. ''The New English Bible''), the Judas gospel portrays him as a divinely appointed instrument of a grand and predetermined purpose. "In the last days they will curse your ascent to the holy (generation)." Another portion shows Jesus favoring Judas above other disciples, saying, "Step away from the others and I shall tell you the mysteries of the kingdom," and later "Look, you have been told everything. Lift up your eyes and look at the cloud and the light within it and the stars surrounding it. The star that leads the way is your star." Muslim scholars claim that the discovery of the new manuscript is historical evidence of the Quranic narration that it was actually one of Jesus' beloved disciples—namely Judas—who was to die on the cross. They cite portions of the manuscript that describe Jesus praising Judas, "You will exceed all of them," Jesus says, and that Judas would "grieve a great deal" to enable him to ascend to the heavens. However, the Qur'an makes no mention of Judas, and the ''Gospel of Judas'' does not say that Judas was crucified. REDISCOVERY Origins , c. 1306. Fresco in the Scrovegni Chapel , Padua .]] The content of the gospel had been unknown until a Coptic ''Gospel of Judas'' turned up on the antiquities " Grey Market ", first seen under shady circumstances in a hotel room in Geneva in May 1983, when it was found among a mixed group of Greek and Coptic manuscripts offered to Stephen Emmel, a Yale Ph.D. candidate commissioned by Southern Methodist University to inspect the manuscripts. How this manuscript, Codex Tchacos , was found has not been clearly documented. However, it is believed that a now-deceased Egyptian antiquities prospector discovered the Codex near El Minya , Egypt in the neighborhood of the village Beni Masar, and sold it to a Cairo antiquities dealer called Hanna. Around 1970, the manuscript and most of the dealer's other artifacts were stolen by a Greek trader named Nikolas Koutoulakis, taken out of Egypt and smuggled into Geneva. Hanna managed to recover the codex by coordinating with antiquity traders in Switzerland. He then showed it to experts who recognized its significance, but it took him two decades to find a buyer who would pay the asking price of $3 million. Sale and study Through the decades the manuscript was offered about, very quietly, but no major library felt ready to purchase a manuscript that had such questionable Provenance . Eventually the 62-page leatherbound Codex was purchased by the Maecenas Foundation in Basel , a private foundation directed by lawyer Mario Jean Roberty. Its previous owners now claimed that it had been uncovered at Muhafazat Al Minya in Egypt during the 1950s or 1960s, and that its significance had not been appreciated until recently. It is worth noting that various other sites were mentioned in other negotiations. The existence of the text was made public by conducted a multispectral imaging process on the texts in Switzerland, and confirmed their authenticity.1 Over the decades, the manuscript had not been meticulously handled: some single pages may be loose on the antiquities market (one half page turned up in Feb. 2006, in NYC), and the text is now thought to be less than three-quarters complete. "After concluding the research, everything will be returned to Egypt. The work belongs there and they will be conserved in the best way," Roberty has stated. The hunt for the Gospel of Judas In April of 2006, an Ohio bankruptcy lawyer asserted that additional fragments of the Gospel were in the estate of an art and antiques dealer.2 SCHOLARSHIP Results and reactions Professor Kasser revealed a few details about the text in 2004, the Dutch paper ''Parool'' reported. The Mysteries , The Official Graham Hancock Website Its language is the same Sahidic dialect of '' that is ascribed to Peter (a variant is in the Nag Hammadi collection), the '' Revelation Of Jacob '' (also known from Nag Hammadi), and the ''Gospel of Judas.'' Up to a third of the codex is currently illegible. A scientific paper was to be published in 2005, but was delayed. The completion of the restoration and translation was announced by the National Geographic Society at a news conference in Washington, D.C. on April 6 , 2006 , and the manuscript itself was unveiled then at the National Geographic Society headquarters, accompanied by a television special entitled ''The Gospel of Judas'' on April 9 , 2006 , which was aired on the National Geographic Channel . Terry Garcia , an executive vice president of the National Geographic Society, asserted that the codex is considered by scholars and scientists to be the most significant ancient, non-biblical text to be found since the 1940s. However, this announcement was met with some doubts and an overall lukewarm response. James M. Robinson , one of America's leading experts on such ancient religious texts, predicted that the new book would not offer any insights into the disciple who betrayed Jesus because, though the document is old, being from the third century, the text is not old enough. According to Robinson, it was probably based on an earlier document. However, Robinson also suggested that the text would be valuable to scholars concentrating on the second century, but not because it provided a greater understanding of the Bible. National Geographic responded to Robinson's criticism by saying that "it's ironic" for Robinson to raise such questions since he had "for years, tried unsuccessfully to acquire the codex himself, and is publishing his own book in April 2006, despite having no direct access to the materials." Robinson describes the secretive maneuvers in the , ''The Gospel of Judas'' (published in 2000 (UK) and 2001 (US)), revolves around the discovery of a ''Gospel of Judas'' in a Dead Sea cave and its effect on a scholarly priest. In his 2006 Easter adress, the Archbishop of Canterbury condemned the credibility of the gospel, saying, "This is a demonstrably late text which simply parallels a large number of quite well-known works from the more eccentric fringes of the early century Church." He went on to suggest that the book's publicity derives from an insatiable desire for conspiracy theories: :We are instantly fascinated by the suggestion of conspiracies and cover-ups; this has become so much the stuff of our imagination these days that it is only natural, it seems, to expect it when we turn to ancient texts, especially biblical texts. We treat them as if they were unconvincing press releases from some official source, whose intention is to conceal the real story; and that real story waits for the intrepid investigator to uncover it and share it with the waiting world. Anything that looks like the official version is automatically suspect. THE UNIQUENESS OF THE CODEX The president of the Maecenas Foundation, Mario Roberty, expressed the unqualified opinion that it was possible the copy the Maecenas Foundation had acquired was not the only copy in existence; but rather the only known copy. Roberty went on to make the suggestion that the Vatican probably had another copy locked away, saying: :In those days the Church decided for political reasons to include the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in the Bible. The other gospels were banned. It is highly logical that the Catholic Church would have kept a copy of the forbidden gospels. Sadly, the Vatican does not want to clarify further. Their policy has been the same for years – 'No further comment.'3 Roberty provided no evidence to suggest that the Vatican does, in fact, possess any additional copy. The Vatican has not commented one way or the other about the existence of copies of the Gospel of Judas, which it considers to be heretical.4 However, spokespersons claim that the Vatican does not wish to suppress the Gospel of Judas; rather, according to Monsignor Walter Brandmuller, president of the Vatican's Committee for Historical Science, "We welcome the {Link without Title} like we welcome the critical study of any text of ancient literature".5 SEE ALSO
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